Re: Draft Resolution on ICC Deferral

We have the honour of writing to you in connection with the recent request made by the Government of Kenya, with the support of many members of the African Union, for a vote on deferral of the Kenya cases at the International Criminal Court which was discussed in an informal interactive dialogue in New York on 31st October.

The organizations that have signed this letter came together to address the violence that Kenya faced in 2007/8 after the disputed presidential elections. Since the mediation of the crisis of 2008, we have remained engaged in the process of the search for justice for victims of the violence that occurred at the time.

We write to urge you to reaffirm your support for the International Criminal Court by encouraging members to deny the request for the deferral issue to be put to a vote before the UN Security Council (UNSC). We support the view that seems to prevail within the UNSC that the grounds for a deferral of the Kenyan case through a UNSC resolution do not exist. We have made our views known through prior communications to the members of the UNSC, which we attach for your reference.

We however express our concern about the continued campaign to put to a vote a draft resolution on deferral presented by Rwanda with the support of the Morocco and Togo on behalf of the African Heads of State and Government, despite clear indications that member states are not currently inclined to support deferral, as they have continually declined to do when the issue has been raised. The Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute will take place next week; an African Union Summit will be held in January 2014. We believe that the insistence on a formal vote is mainly for the purpose of using the decision that will emerge as a rallying point for African States against the ICC at both meetings, which we consider regrettable.

While we support the legitimate right of the Kenyan government to seek the intervention of the United Nations Security Council in principle, we agree with the members’ prevailing opinion that the conditions for a deferral have not been met or demonstrated by the Kenyan government and disagree with the grounds for deferral advanced in the “Draft Resolution on ICC Deferral (sic)”.

For your ease of reference, we briefly comment on the draft resolution and restate our reasons for urging rejection of a deferral request below:

Download Full Letter here – English Version

Download Full Letter here – Spanish Version

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